Tag Archives: Finland

Visitors to Edinburgh’s Central Library will be able to sample a special selection of Nordic noir, as well as sci-fi, history and poetry, thanks to a delivery by the Finnish Institute in London.

Jaakko Nousiainen and Cllr Alison Dickie

The Capital is one of 10 locations chosen by the Institute together with the Finnish Embassy, to receive a consignment of literature by Finnish authors, translated into English.

The ‘10×10 Stories from Finland’ campaign has seen 100 books donated to 10 libraries around the UK in celebration of Finland’s centenary as an independent country.

On Friday last week, Councillor Alison Dickie, Vice Convener of the Education, Children and Families Committee, was presented with the books by Jaakko Nousiainen, the Head of Arts and Culture programme at the Finnish Institute.

She said: “This generous donation will offer library users a fascinating insight into Finnish culture and tradition – these books are a welcome addition to our collection.

“Like in Finland, we really value our libraries here in Edinburgh, and the opportunities they provide for lifelong learning, enjoyment and interaction with others.”

Each of the libraries involved, including Southampton, Leeds and Nottingham, have been given a different collection of stories, both classic and contemporary. Amongst these are two novels by Tove Jansson, author of the much-loved Moomin series, and epic poetry compilation, Kalevala – The Land of the Heroes.

Johanna Sumuvuori, Head of Society and Culture at the Finnish Institute in London, said: “We wanted to celebrate Finland’s centenary in the UK by bringing 10 wonderful Finnish stories to British readers and library users. We believe these stories offer great literary travels across Finnish culture.”